Chapter Twelve: Whatever May Be
by Bynius
Summary: En route to Ba Sing Se, Aang and Toph revisit a small village on the outskirts of Earth Kingdom territory. The two young warriors would soon learn more about their true characters—and discover more destruction left behind by the Fire Nation.


_Chapter Twelve: Whatever May Be_

**bAvatar: The Last Airbender/b**

**Katara, voice-over:**

iWater.

Earth.

Fire.

Air.

It has been six years since the end of the Great War. Since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai.

The citizens are working hard to reconstruct their battered countries, and there has been great success so far. Fire Lord Zuko had reclaimed his nation's honor; Toph is now a great earthbending trainer; Sokka is chief of the Southern Water Tribe, with Suki at his side; Aang had started up a group called The United People's Society.

Great progress had been made in reuniting the Four Nations. Much is being done to maintain order and peace. But my friends and I know that where there is light, there is shadow.

No matter how far we've come, there is always more work to be done./i

**bChapter Twelve: Whatever May Be/b**

"You're lost."

"I am i_not/i_ lost!"

Toph scoffed. "Then why aren't we in Ba Sing Se yet? We've been flying for four days!"

"Well, excuse me for thinking you might like going the scenic route!" Aang huffed.

The blind woman sighed. "Why won't you just admit that you have NO idea where the hell we are?"

The former Avatar shot her a glare. "Because I know exactly where we are!"

"Great. Then where are we?"

"We're flying over…Kazookuni," Aang replied hesitantly.

The earthbender snorted. "Aang, I was born in one of the richest families in the Earth Kingdom. If there was a city named Kazookuni, I think I'd know about it."

The airbender rolled his eyes and said nothing.

"Look, could we just land somewhere? I'm starving."

Aang sighed. "Fine. I'll see if there's a city nearby."

A few minutes later, Aang brought his sky bison, Appa, down onto a narrow strip of land at the coast. He took a flying leap off of the creature, and proceeded to help his girlfriend out of the saddle.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," the earthbender growled defensively. Gripping clumps of sky bison fur, Toph slowly made her way down.

"Ohh!" She gave an elated sigh, and collapsed onto the ground, running her hands through the dirt. "Earth, have I missed you!"

Aang couldn't help but chuckle as she rolled on the ground, producing small waves of earth.

Many moments had passed, and Aang approached the earthbender. "You ready?"

"One second." Toph slowly rose to her feet, brushing herself off. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay, ready."

The two warriors skirted the coastline, with Appa in tow. About fifteen minutes passed, and they finally came to some sort of settlement.

"Hey," Aang murmured. "I think I recognize this place."

"Really?" Toph paused, shifting her feet. "Doesn't feel familiar to me."

Aang scanned their surroundings. Suddenly, he gasped as he spotted a path that coiled around the bottom of a small mountain. "I do recognize it! Katara, Sokka and I traveled here long before we met you."

"Huh."

Grinning happily, Aang grabbed the earthbender's wrist. "Come on!"

They followed the trail as it wound through a sparse forest and led into a city. Aang laughed as he picked out the small shops and other buildings. He swept his gaze around the tiny settlement. Then his eyes stumbled over a building directly across from him and Toph. It was much larger than the other buildings. It was mostly a pale golden color with a dark green roof. Intricate Earth Kingdom designs were carved into its sliding doors.

"That's Aunt Wu's place!" the airbender exclaimed as memories came flooding back to him.

"Aunt who?"

"No, Aunt i_Wu/i_," Aang corrected her. "She's the fortuneteller of the city."

"Fortunetelling?" Toph raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you seriously believe in that crap?"

"I used to, but..." Aang paused as memories continued to return. He recalled the time he and his friends had gotten their readings. He remembered eavesdropping on Katara's reading. i_You will marry a very powerful bender,/i_ he heard the fortuneteller's words clearly in his mind. "But it wasn't me," he murmured to himself with a sudden feeling of remorse.

"Huh?" Toph's voice sliced through his thoughts.

Aang snapped back. He glanced at the blind woman, and grinned as a new emotion swept over him, canceling out the wretched feelings of losing his first love.

"Nothing," he replied. "Come on—wanna get your fortune read?"

"Not really—"

Aang darted ahead. "Great, let's go!"

Aang approached the fortuneteller's shop, and rapped lightly on the sliding doors. Several minutes passed, and Aang knocked again. Finally, some noises came from inside, and the door was opened.

A dark-skinned brunette appeared in the doorway. Her brown eyes gave a familiar sparkle, and she gasped. "Aang!"

•••

Toph felt a pang of jealousy. "Twinkletoes, how do you know this chick?"

"I told you, Toph," the airbender replied. "I came here a long time ago. This is Meng. She's Aunt Wu's assistant."

"Actually," the strange woman began, "I'm the fortuneteller now."

There was a bit of a pause before Aang asked, "Why? What happened?"

Meng sighed, and spoke softly. "The Fire Nation invaded the city. Aunt Wu was killed in the attack."

Toph's stomach grew icy cold with fear and regret. "The Fire Nation was here? When?"

The woman said, "Come on in. I'll tell you what happened."

Aang and Toph followed the woman into the large building. Aang dropped to his knees on the floor, and the earthbender followed suit.

"It was about a year after the war was over," Meng began as she got settled directly in front of the warriors. "A small band of firebenders came into town. At first, we thought nothing of them. We had just entered a new age of peace. The horrendous crime and bloodshed was over—or so we thought."

"Why did they kill her?" Toph heard herself asking.

The woman's words were filled with guilt and sorrow as she murmured, "Because I saw them coming."

"What do you mean, 'you saw them coming'?" the blind woman queried.

"Aunt Wu and I were doing practice fortune readings," Meng said. "I read the burning bones, and they said that a dark force threatened to destroy the city. The reading didn't go into too much detail—they rarely do. But it was enough. Aunt Wu called a secret gathering, and warned the townsfolk about the newcomers. The village was evacuated, and only she and I remained." Meng shuddered, and continued in an even softer tone, "The force was small but powerful. Had the residents stayed, they would have been killed. The firebenders held me and Aunt Wu captive. They ignored me, though—I was just a stupid, powerless little kid. But they knew Aunt Wu was the fortuneteller, and they figured she must have been the one who foresaw their attack and evacuated the village. So they killed her."

Toph felt on the verge of tears, even though she had no idea who these women were. She swallowed hard, and muttered, "I'm sorry."

"Thank you." The young fortuneteller sniffled. Many silent moments passed, and she asked them, "Could I get you some tea or bean curd puffs?"

Toph felt a prod in her side, and Aang said, "You've got to try the bean curd puffs!"

She snorted. "Sounds delicious," the earthbender replied sarcastically.

"Just give 'em a try," the man insisted. "If you don't like them, I'll eat them."

"I'll be right back." And Meng was gone.

Aang and Toph waited in silence. The earthbender secretly studied Aang's motions, pulse, and breathing. His heart had a swift beat, and Toph knew why.

"Aang?"

"Yeah?"

Toph hesitated. "How did you meet Meng again?"

"Toph." There was a hint of irritation in his voice. "For the last time, we met when our group stumbled into the village."

"Was she your girlfriend or something?" Toph queried carefully.

"What?" Suddenly, the former Avatar let out a loud chuckle. "I don't believe it. You're jealous of Meng!"

Toph pointed her finger accusingly in his face. "Something happened between you and Meng. I can feel it!"

"Toph, nothing happened!"

The earthbender scoffed. "Don't lie to me, Aang!"

"I'm not lying!" Aang replied. "Meng just had a big crush on me when we were younger. Nothing more!"

Toph paused. Aang's heartbeat was perfectly normal. He was telling the truth. The earthbender calmed, and rested her hand back at her side. "Fine."

"Happy now?" Aang asked sarcastically.

She didn't reply.

Not even a minute later, Meng returned. She knelt, and placed a loaded tray in front of Toph and Aang.

Settling back into her position, the young fortuneteller asked, "So what have you been up to since the war, Mr. Superhero?"

Toph scowled as she heard a certain tone in the woman's voice.

Aang gave a feeble chuckle, obviously noticing Toph's angry expression. "Uh, not much. I moved to the Fire Nation, then moved to the Southern Water Tribe. We're on our way back to the Earth Kingdom now."

"Really?" Meng asked, her voice full of genuine interest and fascination. "Why? The Earth Kingdom's kind of creepy."

Toph's eyes stretched wide with surprise. "So you've been there before?"

"Yes," Meng responded. "I'm actually from Ba Sing Se."

"Huh," Aang breathed. "Does your family live there?"

The fortuneteller fell silent for many moments. Finally, she spoke again. "I never knew my family. I grew up in an orphanage. Aunt Wu adopted me when I was eight years old." Her voice grew even softer as she continued, "She told me that she saw a lot of psychic potential in me. That's how I ended up here."

Toph lowered her blind gaze. Thoughts swirled in her mind. Suddenly grabbing onto a recent memory, she looked to Meng. "Aunt Wu was the fortuneteller, but you said that you were the one who foresaw the raid."

"Yeah," Aang murmured in agreement. "What did you mean by that?"

The other woman sighed, and leaned toward the warriors. "If I tell you, do you promise to keep it a secret?"

The earthbender shrugged, and reached for a bean curd puff. "Yeah, sure," Toph replied.

Meng continued, "If you divulge this to i_anyone,/i_ especially to any villager, the city would freak out and spin into chaos."

Toph couldn't help but feel attracted to the idea of such an earth-shattering secret.

"We promise we won't tell a soul," Aang vowed. He prodded the earthbender in the shoulder. "Right, Toph?"

She nodded hastily. "Right. We promise," she mumbled, and resumed chewing.

"Aunt Wu was i_not/i_ a fortuneteller."

Aang gasped. "You mean she was a fraud?"

Toph snorted. "Surprise, surprise," she muttered under her breath, and received a hard jab from the former Avatar.

Meng sighed. "She knew how to read the bones and the clouds, but she was anything but psychic. Whatever accurate predictions she gave, she got them from i_me/i_."

•••

Toph was shaking her head in disbelief. "i_She/i_ was getting all the credit for the predictions that i_you/i_ made?"

Meng replied, "Pretty much."

The earthbender sighed. "That sucks."

"Why did you go along with it?" Aang asked. "Why didn't you expose Aunt Wu and get the credit you deserved?"

Meng looked away and didn't respond for several minutes. Finally, she turned back to Aang. Her dark brown eyes glimmered with a strange blend of sadness and determination. "The whole town idolized Aunt Wu. She was like a god to them. If they were to find out that she was a fraud, it would destroy them." Meng paused. "She seemed to be the only thing keeping this village together. In a world so battered by war and rage, it was a comfort to them to know what the future held. Besides"—her expression brightened—"the people would never believe a child could tell the future." Shrugging, Meng added, "I wanted to take part in the war. I wanted to help all I could. And if that meant making predictions without getting due credit, then that was what I was prepared to do."

"Wow." Aang felt like he was starting to see a braver, deeper side to the little girl who'd had a crush on him so many years ago.

"That's pretty awesome," Toph surprisingly said. "I could never stand for someone else getting credit for i_my/i _work."

Aang shook his head briefly. "Me neither."

Meng simply shrugged. After a few quiet moments, she sighed. "Well, at least it's all over. Now I'm the fortuneteller of the village, and I don't have to keep my abilities a secret anymore."

"I do believe that behind every negative event, there's a much more positive event waiting to come forth," Aang said with an empathetic grin.

Meng nodded. "So do I." She returned the smile. As Meng gazed at him, her brown eyes glimmered in the light of the approaching dusk. Many minutes passed. Suddenly, the young fortuneteller stirred, and blinked out of her trance. Glancing from Toph to Aang, she asked, "Would you like to have your fortunes told?"

Aang spared a glance at his girlfriend. "What do you think, Toph? Wanna try it?"

The earthbender gave a smooth shrug. "Sure, what the hell. Why don't you go first?"

"All right," Aang replied, mirroring the shrug. He uncrossed his legs and rose to his feet. Meng popped straight up, and motioned for Aang to follow her.

"Jeez," Aang breathed as he followed Meng into the fortunetelling room. "It's been so long."

"Mm-hm," Meng murmured. "It's been too long." She led the way into the center of the room, and knelt down on the carpet. Aang followed suit, taking his place opposite her. "So is she your girlfriend?"

"Huh?" The sudden inquiry caught him off guard. He relaxed moments later, and came to understand what was asked. With a small grin, Aang replied, "Yeah. I guess she is."

"That's nice," Meng replied as she started setting up the fortunetelling supplies. "I'm glad things are working out for you."

At first, Aang didn't respond. He didn't know how to. Finally, he asked her, "What about you? Anyone special in your life?"

Meng looked away. "No." She turned back to him. "There were some prospective guys over the years, but none that I had seen a future with."

"Oh." Aang was suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "I'm sorry."

"I knew you could do it, Aang," she said softly, abruptly changing the subject. "I knew you'd save us all."

The former Avatar chuckled. "Well, uh, I didn't have much of a choice, did I?"

"Sure you did." Meng shrugged. "You could have fled and hidden while the world around you crumbled to pieces."

By this point, he was feeling i_very/i_ uncomfortable.

"But you didn't," the fortuneteller continued. "You stayed and fought. I'm proud of you." She gave a small smile, and leaned forward to grasp his hand. Meng uncurled his fingers, and drew the tip of her index finger over the creases of his palm. "You've done a lot of shifting in your years, but now the waters calm."

Aang suppressed a sigh of relief. Long had he awaited the moment when he could kick off his shoes and truly relax.

Meng continued tracing her finger over his palm. She circled the very center, and glanced up at him. "Your energy is tainted," she told him. "It's much weaker than it used to be." Studying him intently, she asked, "Are you ill?"

Aang swallowed, and his heart started racing. He knew what the fortuneteller was sensing. "No, I'm not," he replied shakily.

"Then what's disrupting your energy?" Meng queried. "It should feel much, much stronger than it does, especially with the combination of your past lives." Her brown eyes glimmered with suspicion.

The airbender sighed. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

Meng paused. She blinked slowly, and the look of suspicion was gone from her eyes. "Of course, Aang."

The man gave another sigh. "I'm not the Avatar anymore," he murmured.

Her expression remained serene as she asked, "What do you mean?"

"My friend's daughter was dying. I gave her my powers to keep her alive."

Meng's eyes widened with bewilderment. "Y—you transferred the Avatar to another person?" she asked. "How?"

Aang shrugged. "I don't know, really. I found the kid in the Spirit World, and…I don't remember exactly how I transferred my powers. I just did."

Meng shook her head and grinned. "You're truly amazing, Aang."

He chuckled, embarrassed. "Uh, thanks."

•••

Toph gave an infuriated sigh. She pressed her hand to the floor, tracking the vibrations of the fortuneteller and her boyfriend. She had never known Meng, but there was something about the young psychic that made Toph distrustful of her.

"Your turn."

Toph yelped with surprise, and pulled back her hand. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Aang had returned to her.

Toph sighed, and rose to her feet. "Okay, let's do this," she muttered, and followed the fortuneteller into the other room.

"So, like, what's gonna happen?" Toph asked as she knelt in front of Meng. "Are you gonna take a strand of my hair and examine it? Slice my palm and read my blood?"

"I truly understand your skepticism," Meng replied, "but it wouldn't hurt to try and have an open mind. At least for a few minutes."

Toph huffed. She was gradually starting to hate this woman. "Fine," she grumbled. "Do whatever the hell you need to do." She held out her hand, palm side up. "Just get it over with."

"Hmm," the young woman murmured. "You are true to your element. Stubborn, practical, rigid in your ways, not very open to new things and ideas."

Toph raised an eyebrow. "And it took you this long to figure that out?" She stifled a giggle as a fingertip lightly ran over her palm. Meng swirled her finger to the edges of Toph's hand. She traced along the earthbender's fingers, and sighed. "Your past is full of broken promises," Meng said softly. "The most important promises were to family. Your family needs you, Toph. They need to know that you're okay."

Toph's heart raced at the accuracy of Meng's reading. i_Maybe there is something to this fortunetelling thing,/i_ she thought. Her face felt warm at the thought of her family, and her eyes moistened. She brought the back of her free hand to her face and wiped away the few fresh tears. "What else do you see?" Toph asked hesitantly.

Meng stroked a thumb over her palm. "You can't go on like this any longer," she continued. "You like to put on a brave front and you like to act tough and strong, but deep inside is a fragile little girl who's ready to break. She's longing for the past and scared for the future. She needs to be surrounded by friends and family in order to feel truly secure. For you, security doesn't come from within, as you'd like to believe. It comes from those you love."

Toph closed her eyes as more tears threatened to fall. She swallowed hard, and withdrew her hand from Meng's grasp.

Looking away, Toph buried her face in her hands, and sobbed quietly.

"There," Meng said gently. "That's the little girl that needs to show more often. It's okay to put up a protective barrier, but you can't keep it up forever. Eventually it will crumble." She paused, handing a tissue to Toph. "I've known people that have kept their barrier up all their lives. When the barrier finally gave, it wasn't pretty."

Toph was silent except for her soft, quivering breaths. She was skeptical about fortunetelling at first, but what the young woman was telling her seemed too true.

Finally, after some time had passed, Toph managed to recover. She heaved a shaky sigh, and held her palm out to Meng again.

Meng giggled. "So i_now/i_ you believe me," she said teasingly.

"I'm sorry about before," Toph began. "I thought this was all a load of crap. But what you're telling me…It's all too real."

"I get that a lot," Meng replied. She grasped the earthbender's hand, and continued the reading.

Toph's heartbeat quickened with tension as she asked, "What do you see in my love life?"

"I see that you made the right choice," Meng told her as she ran her fingers over Toph's palm. "Aang's a wonderful guy, and you're a wonderful girl for him."

"Seriously?" Toph couldn't help but grin. "But what about you and Aang?"

"Me and Aang? What do you—" Meng broke off. Chuckling, she replied, "Toph, there was never anything between me and Aang."

"But—I could feel something." Toph studied the ground and Meng's vibrations. "Your heart is racing right now, just talking about him."

Meng let out another chuckle. "I admit I still like him, even after all these years. But Toph, trust me. You have nothing to worry about."

"Really?"

Meng gave an affirmative grunt. "There isn't anything for us. There never was, and there never will be, because you're the only one he wants."

Toph's eyes widened with surprise. "Really?" she said again.

"I could feel it when I was doing his reading," the fortuneteller said.

"But…" Toph sighed. "We feel so incompatible. It seems like we're always arguing."

"Toph, that's life. You two are never going to see perfectly eye to eye, but you have a genuine love for each other, and that's enough to weather any storm and any argument."

Toph sighed, and suddenly all her doubts were lifted. Her heart felt light and airy with relief and hope. "Thanks a lot, Meng."

"You're welcome." The fortuneteller rose to her feet and led the way to the door. "You're a very lucky girl."

Toph smiled. "I know."

"Took you long enough," Aang greeted as the two women reemerged. He nudged Toph playfully. "I thought you didn't believe in this crap."

"I don't," Toph grumbled. "But I gotta admit, Meng had some interesting things to say."

"Really?" Aang said. "Like what?"

"Oh, you know." Toph grinned. "Just…things."

"Girl things, Aang," Meng added. "You wouldn't understand."

Through the ground, Toph could sense that the former Avatar was burning with curiosity, yet he didn't question them further.

•••

"Fine. Whatever," Aang muttered, rolling his eyes. He flashed a smile to Meng. "Well, thanks for the readings."

"Don't tell me you're leaving already?" the fortuneteller said.

"Afraid so."

"But…" She glanced out the window. "It's after sunset. Isn't it a little dangerous to be traveling at night?"

Aang shrugged. "We'll be in the air. What's the worst that could happen? Besides, if we travel straight through the night, we could be in Ba Sing Se by noon tomorrow."

"Travel straight through the night?" Toph asked, punching him in the arm. "Are you crazy?"

Aang grunted in pain, and scowled at the blind woman. "What's the matter? We'll be sleeping. Appa's the one who's gonna be doing all the work."

Toph crossed her arms but didn't respond. Aang shook his head, and turned back to Meng.

The young fortuneteller gazed at him. Finally, she said, "Let me pack up some tea and bean curd puffs for your trip."

The airbender smiled. "Thank you, Meng. That would be great."

With a nod, the brunette disappeared into the other room.

The two young warriors stood in silence as they awaited Meng's return. Aang was absentmindedly running his fingers through Toph's black hair.

The young fortuneteller returned many minutes later, holding a wrapped, medium-sized package.

"Okay, so I packed you about 4 days' worth of curd puffs. Then there's a metal container that holds about seven cups of tea." Smiling, she handed the package to Aang. "This ought to last you a few days."

The airbender took the bundle in his arms and gave a small bow. "Thank you, Meng. This is very generous of you."

Toph also dipped gratefully. "Yeah, thanks, Meng."

The young woman's smile widened. "You're very welcome." She turned, slid open the door, and escorted the two warriors outside to the waiting sky bison.

The group approached Appa. Aang leaped up and placed the bundle of snacks into the large creature's saddle. Then, he moved to help Toph into the saddle. Ensuring that his girlfriend was settled, Aang half-jumped, half-flew off of the flying bison and approached Meng.

He shrugged. "Well, this is it. It was great to see you again."

Suddenly breaking into tears, Meng lunged forward and wrapped Aang in a tight embrace. Many silent moments later, she finally pulled back. Sniffling and wiping her face, Meng smiled warmly at him. "Have a safe trip, Aang," she murmured, "and good luck."

"Thanks, Meng." The former Avatar gave her another quick hug. "You stay safe, too, okay?"

She nodded, and sniffled. "I will." Meng stretched up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

Aang drew in a soft gasp, then grinned.

"Oh, for crap's sake, Aang, would you move your ass?" a voice suddenly called from behind. "How long does it take to say goodbye?"

•••

Meng was chuckling softly. Aang rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Anyway, take care," the airbender said, turning toward the bison.

"You too, Aang."

The young warrior sprung into the air and landed squarely on the giant bison's head, taking the reins into his hands.

"Appa, yip-yip!" he commanded. Appa gave a low bellow and, with a flick of his great tail, he launched himself into the air.

Waving her final farewell, Meng gazed as the giant creature vanished behind the rolling clouds.

The young psychic closed her eyes and bowed her head. Meng drew a deep breath and looked inward. She started drawing out the knowledge and secrets of the great spirits, as she does so often during her readings.

"We'll meet again soon, young airbender," she murmured.

End of Chapter Twelve.

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